How does akm verita 4490 compare against cirrus logic cs4398 and other similar dacs?

[Brad57]

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[TYATYA]

Akm4490/4497 have bold, deeper bass, thinner treble.
Cs4398 have more upper bass impact, thicker treble.
Those characters make akm feel more musical over CS, for many people.
For classify in two groups, to my ears :
Sound of TI Pcm1792A, CS4398, CS4272, sound similar, group A. (Hdvd800, AK120ii, Shure KSA1500)
Akm4490/97, one in Mojo sound similar, group B.(ak SP1000, shalling M2s, Mojo)

 

[bixby]

Dac chip sound signatures "can" sound similar and then again can sound nothing like a class or group of products that generally share a similar sound.

Case in point ESS 9018. Typical categorization is that it is clean but hashy up top. Generally attributed to many Chinese dacs, some better than others, then Resonessence goes and warms the crap out of it with very smooth up top, Ayre in the upgraded QB-9 uses ess9016 chip that does not have any of the "classic" ESS house sound.

As for the 4490, same thing. Centrance, Schiit, JDS all sound somewhat similar. Warmish, a bit too soft in the mids smooth top and a bit veiled. Yet hear one of the diy 4495 multiple chip implementations and you would not know they were related.

As for the 4398, well same here, This dac:
https://us.creative.com/p/amplifiers/sound-blaster-e5

sounds nothing like this dac: http://www.cranesong.com/hedd.html

Wildly different sounds!

So long story short, it really is about implementation. Yet, many dacs end up sounding similar on the lower end unless you do something quite different in implementation.

Based on what I heard from the 4490 modi, I would not take the chance. Never heard the Asus but Schiits 4490 implementation left me not a fan.

Not sure what to recommend under $300 for headphones. I use an Audient ID14 on my desktop speakers and it is really good. Not sure what dac chip is in it and don't care, not great on headphones, though.

I have heard some simple setups using separate dac amp that were remarkable good. eg. Steinberg ur22 into schiit Magni2, very good tunes!

Good luck!

 

[Brad57]

Akm4490/4497 have bold, deeper bass, thinner treble.
Cs4398 have more upper bass impact, thicker treble.
Those characters make akm feel more musical over CS, for many people.
For classify in two groups, to my ears :
Sound of TI Pcm1792A, CS4398, CS4272, sound similar, group A. (Hdvd800, AK120ii, Shure KSA1500)
Akm4490/97, one in Mojo sound similar, group B.(ak SP1000, shalling M2s, Mojo)

I want good treble extension without being grainy or analytical.

Akm4490/4497 have bold, deeper bass, thinner treble.
Cs4398 have more upper bass impact, thicker treble.
Those characters make akm feel more musical over CS, for many people.
For classify in two groups, to my ears :
Sound of TI Pcm1792A, CS4398, CS4272, sound similar, group A. (Hdvd800, AK120ii, Shure KSA1500)
Akm4490/97, one in Mojo sound similar, group B.(ak SP1000, shalling M2s, M

Akm4490/4497 have bold, deeper bass, thinner treble.
Cs4398 have more upper bass impact, thicker treble.
Those characters make akm feel more musical over CS, for many people.
For classify in two groups, to my ears :
Sound of TI Pcm1792A, CS4398, CS4272, sound similar, group A. (Hdvd800, AK120ii, Shure KSA1500)
Akm4490/97, one in Mojo sound similar, group B.(ak SP1000, shalling M2s, Mojo)

Dokdnnx

Akm4490/4497 have bold, deeper bass, thinner treble.
Cs4398 have more upper bass impact, thicker treble.
Those characters make akm feel more musical over CS, for many people.
For classify in two groups, to my ears :
Sound of TI Pcm1792A, CS4398, CS4272, sound similar, group A. (Hdvd800, AK120ii, Shure KSA1500)
Akm4490/97, one in Mojo sound similar, group B.(ak SP1000, shalling M2s, Mojo)

I prefer dac to have good treble extension without being grainy or analytical. Not to overly warm or conjested .i find bur brown dac to be slightly warm and missing treble extension.cs4398 seems fine imo,better than burr brown dacs i used but could have little bit more sub bass.

 

[bixby]

Ah, the quest for perfection for $300

 

[TYATYA]

I want good treble extension without being grainy or analytical.


Dokdnnx

I prefer dac to have good treble extension without being grainy or analytical. Not to overly warm or conjested .i find bur brown dac to be slightly warm and missing treble extension.cs4398 seems fine imo,better than burr brown dacs i used but could have little bit more sub bass.

I wish cs4398 has sub bass and clarity of akm4497.
Akm4490 implement in shalling m2s is really good. It is a <150$ bud but sounds verry good example.
Not detail as SP1000 which dozens times of cost, but sound signature is that way, it wont shy to compare AK which use cs4398.
Detail, has good bass, dont be warm as mojo, that is m2s!
Bass and treble of AKM you may like, it wont be warm even good sub bass : reason is its med . Mid is the one I dont like of Akm, not thick as of cs

 

[Brad57]

Dac chip sound signatures "can" sound similar and then again can sound nothing like a class or group of products that generally share a similar sound.

Case in point ESS 9018. Typical categorization is that it is clean but hashy up top. Generally attributed to many Chinese dacs, some better than others, then Resonessence goes and warms the crap out of it with very smooth up top, Ayre in the upgraded QB-9 uses ess9016 chip that does not have any of the "classic" ESS house sound.

As for the 4490, same thing. Centrance, Schiit, JDS all sound somewhat similar. Warmish, a bit too soft in the mids smooth top and a bit veiled. Yet hear one of the diy 4495 multiple chip implementations and you would not know they were related.

As for the 4398, well same here, This dac:
https://us.creative.com/p/amplifiers/sound-blaster-e5

sounds nothing like this dac: http://www.cranesong.com/hedd.html

Wildly different sounds!

So long story short, it really is about implementation. Yet, many dacs end up sounding similar on the lower end unless you do something quite different in implementation.

Based on what I heard from the 4490 modi, I would not take the chance. Never heard the Asus but Schiits 4490 implementation left me not a fan.

Not sure what to recommend under $300 for headphones. I use an Audient ID14 on my desktop speakers and it is really good. Not sure what dac chip is in it and don't care, not great on headphones, though.

I have heard some simple setups using separate dac amp that were remarkable good. eg. Steinberg ur22 into schiit Magni2, very good tunes!

Good luck

Dac chip sound signatures "can" sound similar and then again can sound nothing like a class or group of products that generally share a similar sound.

Case in point ESS 9018. Typical categorization is that it is clean but hashy up top. Generally attributed to many Chinese dacs, some better than others, then Resonessence goes and warms the crap out of it with very smooth up top, Ayre in the upgraded QB-9 uses ess9016 chip that does not have any of the "classic" ESS house sound.

As for the 4490, same thing. Centrance, Schiit, JDS all sound somewhat similar. Warmish, a bit too soft in the mids smooth top and a bit veiled. Yet hear one of the diy 4495 multiple chip implementations and you would not know they were related.

As for the 4398, well same here, This dac:
https://us.creative.com/p/amplifiers/sound-blaster-e5

sounds nothing like this dac: http://www.cranesong.com/hedd.html

Wildly different sounds!

So long story short, it really is about implementation. Yet, many dacs end up sounding similar on the lower end unless you do something quite different in implementation.

Based on what I heard from the 4490 modi, I would not take the chance. Never heard the Asus but Schiits 4490 implementation left me not a fan.

Not sure what to recommend under $300 for headphones. I use an Audient ID14 on my desktop speakers and it is really good. Not sure what dac chip is in it and don't care, not great on headphones, though.

I have heard some simple setups using separate dac amp that were remarkable good. eg. Steinberg ur22 into schiit Magni2, very good tunes!

Good luck!

I wonder what else they could do to make the implementation so much better sounding.i dont know much about how it implement

Ah, the quest for perfection for $300

Ah, the quest for perfection for $300

Ah, the quest for perfection for $300

Come on! I am not trying to spend 2k for dac . Schitt stack is probably around 200 usd and every review says its excellent. Anything above it is probably diminishing return exept for the high end audiophiles on an endless budget.Anways like said the one i have asus if it had a little bit more sub bass would have sounded almost perfect for me.

 

[buke9]

Well I hate the term dimishing returns. As most of the time it is not someone that has lived with the higher end product that gives that monicker to it. You have to live with it to determine it is not worth the money in my opinion. Yes if your not willing to spend the money on a product there is others that will do just fine and sound good to you not a problem for me but just hate the dimishing returns. Dimishing returns say there is something better but I’m not willing to pay for it. Which is fine . I just hate the term as I’m for one wanting to know what I’m missing.

 

[Currawong]

Personally, I don't think the differences between chips is something worth even remotely paying attention to until you're spending way more than the OP is.